Dental clamp.



No. 766,018. PATENTED JULY 26, 1904. H. M. CARROLL. DENTAL CLAMP.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 18, 1903.

NO MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented July 26, 1904:.

PATENT OEEIcE.

DENTAL CLAMP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 766,018, dated July 26,1904.

Application filed July 18, 1903- Serial N0- 166,158. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOUSTON MONROE OAR- ROLL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at San-Antonio, in the county of Bexar and State ofTexas, have invented a new and useful Dental Clamp, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a means forsupporting teeth during filling operations or such preliminary treatmentof the teeth as may be necessary to prepare them for the reception offillings.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device for connectinga number of teeth for mutual support and by means of which the shock dueto the operation of boring or plugging instruments will be distributedover a number of teeth.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel form ofclamp which may be readily engaged with the teeth to be supported and toprovide means whereby said clamp may be adjusted to increase or decreasethe supporting strain exerted on the teeth.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novelconstruction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described illustratedin the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in theappended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form,proportions, size, and minor details of the structure may be madewithout departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantagesof the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of thetooth-supporting clamp constructed in accordance with the invention andshowing the same as applied to one of the superior incisors. Fig. 2 is asectional plan view of the supporting-clamp.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate correspondingparts throughout both figures of the drawings.

The device forming the subject of the present invention is intendedprincipally to aiford support for the incisors or other front teethduring filling operations and to distribute the shock of the pluggingand other instruments to a number of teeth, thereby avoiding all dangerof accidental breakage of the teeth and materially lessening pain andannoyance to the patient.

In the drawings, 1 indicates a frame in the form of an oblong loop, ofwhich the shorter end bars support the clamp proper. One of these bars 2is provided with an elongated slot 3 for the reception of one end of theclampingplate 4:. The clamping plate is formed of a narrow strip offlexible metal and at one end is provided with an enlarged rib orcross-bar 5, which prevents the withdrawal of the plate from the slot 3.The opposite end of the strip is provided with an opening for thereception of a screw 6, the inner end of which is swiveled to a bar 7while the opposite end of the screw passes through a threaded openingformed in the end bar 8 of.

the loop and is provided with a milled knob 9 for convenience in turningthe screw and adjusting the strip.

The bar 7 aflords a support and guide for the flexible strip, and owingto the flexibility of the strip its outer end may be readily adjusted inthe slot 3 to suit varying conditions.

In using the device the strip is engaged with the lingual wall of thetooth to be filled and is then bent outward in such manner as to passbetween the tooth to be filled and the adjacent teeth, the screw beingfirst turned in order to permit free bending of the strip. After thestrip has been adjusted the screw is turned to any desired extent inorder that the tooth may be properly supported by the teeth on eitherside and the shock of the plugging instruments distributed in suchmanner as to lessen pain and annoyance to the patient and at the sametime prevent breakage of the tooth under the repeated blows of theplugging instrument.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is- 1. In a deviceof the class specified, afiexible clamping-strip, an open integral frameclosed on all sides and serving to support the strip, and means carriedby the frame for exerting endwise strain on the strip.

2. In adevice of the class specified, aflexible clamping-strip, arectangular frame closed on all sides and having at one end a slot forthe reception of one end of the strip, and a screw carried by theopposite end of the frame and connected to said strip.

3. In dentistry, aflexible clamping-strip, an open frame of loop-likeform having a slotted end bar for the reception of one end of the strip,an adjustable screw adapted to a threaded opening in the opposite endbar of the loop, said screw extending through the adjacent end of thestrip, and a cross-bar to which the inner end of said screw is swiveled.

4. A dental clamp comprising an open metallic frame, a flexible stripsupported at one HOUSTON MONROE CARROLL.

Witnesses:

F. C. DAVIS, MAsoN WILLIAMs, EDMUND YOUNG.

